“Tell him to come here,” Keselowski, the Team Penske ace, told reporters following the race. “I’m right here. He knows where I’m at. Leave victory lane, and we’ll go.”

Keselowski, who has tangled with NASCAR’s best and strongest, including Cousin Carl Edwards, isn’t easily intimidated.

He grew up racing on rough ‘n’ tumble short tracks around Michigan and Ohio as a youngster and was taught to run tough but fair and make no apologies by his father, Bob Keselowski, and his uncle Ron, who took no prisoners as a Cup and ARCA driver.

When Busch struck Keselowski exiting the pits early in the STP 500 at Martinsville, badly damaging Brad’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion, it started the fireworks between the two former Penske teammates.

“The replay shows it. We jumbled up on pit road, and he just drove right through me and ruined our day,” said Keselowski, who would wind up finishing 38th. “We probably had a race-winning car. If you are going to be aggressive, wreck yourself, don’t wreck me. I’ll remember that when it is Lap 50 and he needs a break, and he’ll find his ass turned around in the wall, just like he tore my car up.”

Keselowski appreciated Busch when they drove together for Birmingham businessman Roger Penske. But not so much now, it seems.

“(Busch) does awesome things for charity, and he’s probably the most talented race car driver,” said Keselowski of the 2004 Cup champ. “But he’s also one of the dumbest, so put those three together.”

Busch, in turn, took offense to BK’s antics on the race course after the pit-road incident, in which Keselowski swapped paint with Busch’s No. 41 Haas Chevrolet.

“He targeted us; he was aiming for us,” said Busch, who has rumbled in the past with the likes of Jimmy Spencer (at Michigan International Speedway), Kevin Harvick and his present team owner, Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing). “He tried to flatten all four of my tires. That’s a no-fly zone. That’s a punk-ass move, and he will get what he gets back when I decide to give it back.”

And that could be next weekend at the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

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